On Friday, November 14, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies announced a research partnership with QTS Data Centers (QTS). The Virginia-based developer invested $1.5 million toward a new Advancing Data Center Sustainability initiative, which will leverage the university’s deep expertise to advance sustainable digital infrastructure through research and innovation.
“Investment by QTS into UW research connects our researchers with practical challenges of digital infrastructure,” said Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute. “The Nelson Institute has long worked with government organizations, nonprofits, and community groups. We are excited to partner with leading industries to help create more sustainable outcomes.”
QTS initially approached UW–Madison’s Office of Business Engagement, who connected them with the Nelson Institute Enterprise, a business engagement program launched this fall and housed in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Coordinating with schools and colleges across campus, Enterprise team members gathered research proposals. QTS then prioritized and selected 14 proposals to receive funding, which fall into four categories: clean and reliable energy, sustainable agriculture and landscapes, biodiversity and ecology, and community and tribal perspectives.
One approved proposal plans to use automated, AI-enabled camera systems to identify possible benefits of data centers for pollinator biodiversity. James Crall, a research affiliate in the Nelson Institute’s Center for Ecology and the Environment and an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, is the project’s principal investigator. “Investing in research to understand these impacts is going to be, in the long run, right for everyone,” Crall says. “[With] real engagement from the companies fueling the rise of [data centers], there’s an enormous potential to accelerate impactful research and ensure benefits for both local communities and the environment.”
“QTS is thrilled to start this collaboration with UW–Madison as we believe in the power of innovation that stems from industry and academia partnerships,” says Madison Williams, chief investment officer of QTS. The company is currently seeking approval to annex land from the Town of Vienna, which sits next to the Village of Deforest, to build a 1,600-acre data center. It would be Dane County’s first large-scale processing campus.
List of Approved Projects
Clean and Reliable Energy
Carbon Dioxide Energy Storage for Data Centers (CO2DES)
Mark Anderson, Greg Nellis, Doug Reindl, Mike Wagner, Allison Mahvi
Data Center-to-Grid: Chemical Fuel-Enabled Energy Storage and Power Delivery
James Pikul, Luca Mastropasqua
Understanding Datacenter Power Swings and Their Impact on Grid Stability
Line A. Roald, Matthew D. Sinclair, Shivaram Venkataraman, Bernie Lesieutre
Nuclear Energy Opportunities for Data Centers
Ben Lindley, Paul Wilson
Sustainable Agriculture & Landscapes
Using AI to assess the impacts of varied agricultural land management on water quality and soil carbon storage
Chris Kucharik
Photovoltaic panels over pasture: Providing power and water while improving environmental sustainability
Steven P. Loheide II, Christopher Kucharik, and Ankur Desai
Mapping the Air Quality and Health Impacts of U.S. Data Center Load Growth
Morgan Edwards, Jonathan Patz
Tracking Heat Release from Data Center with Satellite Data
Tracey Holloway
Biodiversity and Ecology
Identifying benefits of data centers for pollinator biodiversity using automated, AI-enabled automated camera systems
James Crall
Landing Zones: Designing Rainwater Ponds as Habitat for Migratory Birds
Benjamin Zuckerberg
Predicting fish habitat suitability and sustainability for inland lakes undergoing change
Paul Block, Paul Hanson, Zach Feiner
Community and Tribal Perspectives
Tribal Community Perspectives on Data Center Development
Morgan Edwards, Paul Robbins
Public opinion and data center governance: identifying a way forward
Morgan Edwards
Brownfield Data Center Development: Mapping Mutually Beneficial Development
Morgan Edwards, Corbett Grainger